1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: I am your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer 4 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works and I love all things tech. 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,079 Speaker 1: And listener Carl Ludwig asked that I do an episode 6 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: about the various components of a high end audio system. 7 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: That's a tall order. So there are a few technological 8 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:36,839 Speaker 1: topics that are kind of mine fields, right, things that 9 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: have a lot of very strong opposing opinions. I don't 10 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: know that there's any issue in tech where the real 11 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: fanatics of that technology have as many fundamental disagreements as 12 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: those in the high end audio equipment field. It's it's 13 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: got elements of mysticism in there, because it's all about experience, 14 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: you know this, this idea of the audio experience. Their 15 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: devotees of audio systems, who will argue to the grave 16 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,680 Speaker 1: that the most important components are the speakers. For example, 17 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: they'll say, the speakers are absolutely where you have to 18 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: spend the most attention and time and money to get 19 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: the right ones. Others will say, no, no, no, you're wrong. 20 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: The most important piece of equipment in a high end 21 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 1: audio system is the pre amplifier. You've got to have 22 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: the best pre amp or else everything else is going 23 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 1: to be a shambles. Then there are others who will say, no, no, no, 24 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: it's the source audio, the CD player or the turntable 25 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: that's the most important component. And you get these arguments. 26 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: If you go to any high end audio forum, you 27 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: will see what I'm talking about. And then there's gonna 28 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: be some audio files who will say this, this particular 29 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: system I built, it's superior to all others, and it 30 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: has these incredibly expensive components that create the most amazing 31 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: listening experience you will ever have. And then others will 32 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: say the system you put together is garbage, and the 33 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: arguments you make are without merit. Here's a good system 34 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: that I put together for a fraction of the cost, 35 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:14,080 Speaker 1: and it's much better, and the arguments continue. So what 36 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: I'm getting at is that the experience of hearing a 37 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: sound is actually incredibly subjective. You know, you might think 38 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: of it, well, a sound is a physical phenomenon, right, 39 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: sound is vibration, So how can it be subjective? Well, yeah, 40 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: it's it's a physical phenomenon, But the way we perceive 41 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: it ultimately is by processing the information in the gray 42 00:02:39,919 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: matter in our skulls. Our brains do that last step 43 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: for the experience of sound. We take in sound as 44 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: a physical thing, but we process it as a mental thing, 45 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: and therein lies the problem. It is possible for two 46 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:02,680 Speaker 1: different people to have to them two different experiences listening 47 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: to the same sound system. To one person it might 48 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:09,679 Speaker 1: sound perfect, and to the other it might not sound perfect. 49 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: And it doesn't mean one person's right and one person 50 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: is wrong. For each person that might be the true answer. 51 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:20,640 Speaker 1: And it also gets really tricky because audio files use 52 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: really kind of vague language to describe sound. They want 53 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: a listening experience to be as close to the being 54 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: present at the recording session as possible, for example, although 55 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: these days that gets harder and harder to do because 56 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: there's so much post production in music that there's no 57 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: such thing as a recording session kind of experience for 58 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: some of that music. But let's say it's a symphonic piece, 59 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: you know, classical music, it might mean that an audiophile 60 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: wants to be able to make a clear distinction between 61 00:03:56,080 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 1: individual instruments, and they'll talk about sound having quality is 62 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: like warmth or brightness, and being able to create a space, 63 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: a spatial quality to the music. And these are interesting terms, 64 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: like if you experience the sound, you might say, well, 65 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: I get what they're saying, but there's not really a 66 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: quantitative way two express those ideas in many in many cases, 67 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:30,839 Speaker 1: so it almost becomes a spiritual experience, and thus it 68 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: becomes very complicated to talk about the technology. Now that 69 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:38,720 Speaker 1: being said, audio component manufacturers have a product they want 70 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: to sell, and selling and experience is pretty hard to 71 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: do unless you can convince a customer to come in 72 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:50,120 Speaker 1: for a demonstration and to sit through a demonstration that 73 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: includes lots of different variables and to kind of come 74 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 1: to that conclusion of this particular high end audio system 75 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: is the one for me because it produces the sound 76 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: that I feel is superior. So since that's not possible 77 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:08,880 Speaker 1: with everyone, a lot of component manufacturers will focus instead 78 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: on numbers. So numbers. You know, we were comfortable with numbers, 79 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: and typically we say the higher the number is, the 80 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:18,600 Speaker 1: better the thing is, right, The more megapixels that camera has, 81 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: the better the camera is. Right. Not necessarily the same 82 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: is true with high end audio equipment. You'll start to 83 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:28,360 Speaker 1: see numbers being bandied around for all sorts of stuff, 84 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: but that does not necessarily tell you how good it 85 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: will sound to you. This, by the way, makes me 86 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: think of a famous scene in the comedy This is 87 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: Spinal Tap, where the character Nigel Toughness explains to his 88 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: his documentarian that his martial stack amplifier has dials that 89 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,479 Speaker 1: go up to eleven. And he says, most bands use 90 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: equipment that maxes out at ten, which means if they 91 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: need something extra and they're already at ten, there's nowhere 92 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:02,359 Speaker 1: else to go. But he can go up to eleven, 93 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: so he can go one more than they can. And 94 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: then that documentary in character called Marty de burgh E, says, well, 95 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: why don't you just make ten louder and make ten 96 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:18,240 Speaker 1: the top number? And then Nigel's responses these go to eleven. 97 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: It's a very silly scene, but it illustrates my point. 98 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: Some companies will cite numbers in a way that sounds 99 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: meaningful but may not actually make a real difference in 100 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: the experience of listening to audio. Another element that makes 101 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:35,680 Speaker 1: it hard to sell audio components is that there's been 102 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:40,920 Speaker 1: a major shift, specifically in the last decade, where we've 103 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: seen the the real focus of the audio experience skew 104 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:51,039 Speaker 1: heavily toward convenience over fidelity. By that, I mean it 105 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: is wicked convenient to be able to carry an entire 106 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: music library around on a portable device and listen wherever 107 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:01,720 Speaker 1: you go, or more commonly these days, you're using a 108 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: device to log into a music streaming service and then 109 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: listen on demand to practically any song you can think of, 110 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: though in reality, obviously you only have access to whatever 111 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: music labels that service has made agreements with, So you 112 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: might think of a song and look for and find out, oh, well, 113 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 1: that's not available on this service. But you get what 114 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: I mean. You can have thousands, hundreds of thousands of 115 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 1: songs available to you, and it's all through this portable device. 116 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: The audio experience just needs to be good enough. It 117 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: doesn't have to be fantastic. It just has to have 118 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: enough fidelity where the convenience is the most important factor. 119 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 1: Now audio files. People who truly strive to get that 120 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: that amazing audio reproduction experience, they shudder at the thought 121 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:56,920 Speaker 1: of this because to them, the idea of listening to 122 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: music that's in a lossy format over an inner connection 123 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: SAPs the audio of its character and its depth, And 124 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: these days, audio systems, those high end audio systems are 125 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: becoming more of a niche market than ever before. And 126 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 1: the luxury systems were always a niche market because they're 127 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: incredibly expensive. You know, you're talking about thousands of dollars 128 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: per component. But even the mid range market stuff, the 129 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:25,760 Speaker 1: stuff that was in the hundreds of dollars, that's becoming 130 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: more of a niche market because there are fewer people 131 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:34,800 Speaker 1: who want to collect music physical media of music, and 132 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: want to have a big sound system. Not that there 133 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: aren't any, but there are fewer of them. So in 134 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: this episode, I am not going to give you a 135 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 1: checklist of specific brand names and models that you need 136 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 1: to go out and buy if you want to build 137 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:52,480 Speaker 1: a dream audio system, because what sounds great to me 138 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: might not sound great to you, and it would be 139 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 1: a disservice. This reminds us that the experience of hearing 140 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: something is dependent not just on a physical phenomena, but 141 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: mental processing, and goodness knows, the way I process information 142 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: in my brain is whackadoodle crazy. But what I can 143 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: do is walk through the various parts of a typical 144 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: high end audio system and talk about what each one does. 145 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: And I do think it's possible for the quality of 146 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: the sound produced by a system to change just by 147 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 1: swapping out a component or two. Now, some might make 148 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 1: a much more noticeable impact than others. Some might be 149 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: subtle enough to go largely unnoticed. And while you might 150 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: get better performance from a certain type of high end 151 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: product than a less costly version, I don't think that's 152 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: necessarily true across the board. I don't think higher price 153 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:49,079 Speaker 1: always equals better quality. Again, it's subjective. So in some cases, 154 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:53,559 Speaker 1: you might find that a system that is relatively inexpensive 155 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: is producing an experience that you find particularly compelling. That's 156 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: the wonderful thing about it. Of course, the opposite. It's 157 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: also true. You might find that a really expensive system 158 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: is the one that genuinely sounds the best to you, 159 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: in which case you have some important decisions to make. 160 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: All right, So, let's say that you want to put 161 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: together an audio system, and you're not going to go 162 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,160 Speaker 1: out and buy a cheap all in one system. You're 163 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: not going to buy an off the shelf stereo system 164 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,559 Speaker 1: all in one thing. You want something with more modularity. 165 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: Maybe you want to create the best possible experience according 166 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 1: to your preferences. Maybe you also want the option to 167 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 1: replace modular parts with upgrades when you can afford them. 168 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:36,560 Speaker 1: So you might say, well, based on my budget, I'm 169 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:40,880 Speaker 1: gonna buy an amplifier and all these other components, but 170 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:43,520 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna go with the amplifier that would be 171 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:45,440 Speaker 1: my first choice. It's too expensive. I'll go with a 172 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,319 Speaker 1: lower cost version, and then maybe later when I've saved 173 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: up money, I'll swap that out. Because if it's a 174 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: modular system, you can do that. You can take one 175 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,560 Speaker 1: piece out and replace it with another one. It's also 176 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:00,720 Speaker 1: easier to make repairs. If something breaks and you've identified 177 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 1: which part of the chain is the broken one, you 178 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 1: can disconnect that and then go and get it fixed. Basically, 179 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 1: your audio system will consist of these parts. You've got 180 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:15,080 Speaker 1: your sound sources. These are the components that are creating 181 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: the signals that go through the rest of the system. 182 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 1: It's the origin point for the signal. So in a 183 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: digital system, you can talk about CD player. With an 184 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 1: analog system, it might be a turntable, it could be 185 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 1: other sources as well, and you can have hybrid systems 186 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,200 Speaker 1: where it's both digital and analog systems. That's totally possible. 187 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:39,000 Speaker 1: Then you have things like amplifiers, pre amplifiers and receivers. 188 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:42,679 Speaker 1: These take in signals from a sound source and then 189 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: they send that signal onto speakers. And you might say, well, 190 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 1: why would you why would you have an in between component, 191 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 1: Because general logic says the more components you put in 192 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,880 Speaker 1: between an origin and its destination, the more opportunities there 193 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: are two we can a signal. Well, it's because for 194 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: a speaker to work, to drive the drivers inside a speaker, 195 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:11,280 Speaker 1: to make those speaker diaphragms vibrate properly to reproduce sound, 196 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 1: you need to have a stronger signal than what these 197 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,959 Speaker 1: origin sources can create. The signals, the electric signals they 198 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:20,440 Speaker 1: create are too weak to drive that speaker on their own. 199 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: So an amplifier's job is to take that incoming signal 200 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:32,040 Speaker 1: and amplify it, to boost it without introducing any noise, 201 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:36,680 Speaker 1: if possible, so to to replicate that signal as precisely 202 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:41,120 Speaker 1: as possible, but at a greater amplitude, and then send 203 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 1: that onto the speakers. Then, of course you have the speakers. 204 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,679 Speaker 1: That's the component that actually creates the vibrations that we 205 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: experience the sound. They have the drivers inside the vibrate, 206 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: they take in the incoming electric signal, and then through 207 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:56,840 Speaker 1: electro magnets caused the diaphragms inside the speaker drivers to 208 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: move in and out. Laterally, that causes air molecules to move, 209 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: of which propagates a sound. And then, of course, between 210 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 1: all of these components, you have your various interconnects or cables, 211 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 1: and the cables carry the signal from one part of 212 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:12,640 Speaker 1: the system to the next part of the system, and 213 00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:16,600 Speaker 1: each of those parts are important to some extent, and 214 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,440 Speaker 1: it's also important to remember that a sound system made 215 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:22,720 Speaker 1: up of components is really only going to perform as 216 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: well as the weakest part of the system. So you 217 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:28,760 Speaker 1: might have a killer amplification system, you might have really 218 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: sweet speakers, but then you've got a super cheap vinyl turntable, 219 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:35,200 Speaker 1: and the signal that vinyl turntable is going to supply 220 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:38,319 Speaker 1: to the rest of that system might not be very good. 221 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: You might get a lot of noise in there. That 222 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: means you're gonna get an amazing reproduction of a crappy 223 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:48,240 Speaker 1: audio signal. Likewise, you might have a phenomenal turntable that 224 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:54,199 Speaker 1: creates a really clear, fantastic signal and you've got great amplifiers, 225 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: they take that signal and they boost it up reliably. 226 00:13:57,559 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 1: But then you've got really weedy speakers and the sound 227 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:02,559 Speaker 1: you get is really tenny, and there's not a lot 228 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:06,120 Speaker 1: of base, and it's not truly representative of what the 229 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: rest of the system could do if there were better 230 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:11,880 Speaker 1: speakers attached to it. And also note that when I 231 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:15,520 Speaker 1: say better, I don't necessarily mean more expensive. Sometimes budget 232 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: or mid cost components can perform just as well or 233 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 1: better than the super high end stuff. It all depends 234 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: upon the full system. Now this isn't just me dismissing 235 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 1: luxury products. There have been numerous tests, many of them 236 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: blind studies, that have demonstrated that, at least with certain components, 237 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: listeners are unable to identify which one is supposedly the 238 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: top performing piece of equipment with a regularity that suggests 239 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: that it was better than just by chance alone. So 240 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 1: in other words, you could have a test where you've 241 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:53,520 Speaker 1: got three different amplifiers, let's say, and you have one 242 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: that's a really high end luxury amplifier, you've got one 243 00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: that's a mid range one that's a budget and you 244 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:00,800 Speaker 1: might find through your test thing that people are just 245 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 1: not reliably able to identify the luxury component with a 246 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 1: lot of them. A lot of these tests, I see 247 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 1: that whatever is the lowest price piece of equipment, people 248 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: tend to be able to point at that and say 249 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 1: that's just not as good as these other ones. So 250 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:20,760 Speaker 1: there is there is a point where performance will drop 251 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:26,080 Speaker 1: off if the component was not made with good materials 252 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:31,040 Speaker 1: and and good engineering. But there can be times where 253 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:34,800 Speaker 1: something that is supposed to be a super high performing 254 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:39,720 Speaker 1: piece isn't distinguishable from a mid range component, for example. 255 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 1: And again it's a subjective experience. It may very well 256 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: be that to one person the luxury piece of equipment 257 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: does create a better sound, to another person that just doesn't. Uh. 258 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: And in other cases it may just be people saying 259 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 1: I can't really tell the difference, so I'm just going 260 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 1: to kind of guess. So it's hard to say. Now 261 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:00,320 Speaker 1: we've got all that ambiguity out the way. When we 262 00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: come back, I'll start breaking down the individual components more closely. 263 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: But first let's take a quick break to thank our sponsor. Okay, 264 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: let's start with those source components, as those are the 265 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: ones providing the signal sent to the rest of the system. 266 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 1: Some would argue, and I would probably be among them, 267 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:31,920 Speaker 1: that this is probably the most important component of the 268 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:35,480 Speaker 1: sound system, because again, if your audio source is sending 269 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: out a crappy signal for whatever reason, it really doesn't 270 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: matter how good the rest of the components are. You 271 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:46,240 Speaker 1: can't improve a crappy signal. Really, you're going to get 272 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:48,920 Speaker 1: a subpar experience. You might be able to have some 273 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: noise correction and some other elements worked in with those components, 274 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:56,960 Speaker 1: but ultimately you want that original signal to be as 275 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: good as possible. So generally speaking, we can divide all 276 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: of these audio sources into two broad categories. You've got 277 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,679 Speaker 1: analog that would be stuff like a turntable or an 278 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:12,920 Speaker 1: analog cassette deck. Analog components don't require any signal processing 279 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:16,200 Speaker 1: apart from amplification to drive us as speakers. And then 280 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:19,880 Speaker 1: you have digital. Digital components include stuff like compact disc 281 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:24,560 Speaker 1: players or DVD audio players. These components require something called 282 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:28,640 Speaker 1: a digital to analog converter to take that digital information 283 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:31,600 Speaker 1: and change it into an analog signal. Now, the reason 284 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 1: for this is the nature of analog versus digital and 285 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 1: analog signal is continuous. Think of it as a sign wave. 286 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: All right, it's one continuous line. It's got peaks and 287 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:47,600 Speaker 1: Scott valleys, but it's uninterrupted. That's analog. Digital is really 288 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: more of a series of instances, almost like snapshots, right, 289 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 1: we call those samples. So you take a sound and 290 00:17:55,920 --> 00:18:02,760 Speaker 1: you take samples, snapshots of that sound at a specific interval, 291 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: and you that could be thousands and thousands of times 292 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: per second, but it's not continuous. It's almost like animation 293 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 1: if you think of cells and animation. It's a series 294 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 1: of images and when you play it back at a 295 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:19,920 Speaker 1: certain speed, it appears to be seamless movement. Well, it's 296 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:23,560 Speaker 1: kind of like that, except we're talking about snapshots of data, 297 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: and when you play them back at proper speed, then 298 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: it can simulate a seamless sign wave. But you still 299 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: have to take one more step. You still have to 300 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 1: take that digital information and turn it into an analog signal. 301 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: It's not truly an analog wave, no matter how many 302 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 1: times you're sampling a sound per second, It doesn't matter 303 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: how many samples you have, it's not an analog wave. 304 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: So technically, you take a digital to audio converter and 305 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 1: they take this fixed point value, this set a fixed 306 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:04,959 Speaker 1: point values that represent a sound and they translate that 307 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:11,720 Speaker 1: into a physical variable voltage. So, uh, this continuously variable 308 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:16,000 Speaker 1: signal is something that the rest of the system can handle. 309 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:19,359 Speaker 1: So many c D players, in fact, a lot of 310 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: consumer CD players, especially the stuff that's not meant to 311 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,400 Speaker 1: go in high end audio systems, have an integrated digital 312 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,920 Speaker 1: to audio converter included in their design. It's part of 313 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:33,199 Speaker 1: the system. So if you've ever had just a regular 314 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:37,120 Speaker 1: CD player or home audio system that's connected to speakers, 315 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 1: and you're thinking I didn't need anything special, well, it's 316 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 1: because the d a C, the digital audio converter, was 317 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:47,479 Speaker 1: built directly into the product. But if you're a super 318 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:52,159 Speaker 1: audio file you can essue that stuff. You could say, no, 319 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:54,840 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna go with that. I'm gonna go with 320 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:59,119 Speaker 1: a standalone d a C device, So you would connect 321 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:03,119 Speaker 1: your digital store, which for CDs that would probably be 322 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:07,359 Speaker 1: a transport. A transport is technically it's essentially a CD player. 323 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 1: It just doesn't have a d A C. So it's 324 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,440 Speaker 1: a CD player. It can read the data off the disk, 325 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:15,240 Speaker 1: but it doesn't have the digital to audio converters. So 326 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:19,320 Speaker 1: if you hooked up this kind of CD player to speakers, 327 00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:22,600 Speaker 1: nothing would happen. You would need the digital to audio 328 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:26,800 Speaker 1: converter in between those. Uh so it's it's it's almost 329 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 1: like a CD player that's missing apart and the standalone 330 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: D a C would convert that incoming digital signal into 331 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 1: an analog one and send that along the rest of 332 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:39,680 Speaker 1: the system to the amplifier and then ultimately to the speakers. 333 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:44,360 Speaker 1: Another potential source of digital signal is a computer system. Right, 334 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,360 Speaker 1: we don't just have CD players and DVD players. In fact, 335 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:50,480 Speaker 1: fewer and fewer people are using those for their audio. 336 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 1: A lot more people are using computers. I talked about 337 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,880 Speaker 1: that earlier with the convenience argument. We store a lot 338 00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:00,480 Speaker 1: of music and digital file formats these days. The quality 339 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,480 Speaker 1: of audio you're gonna get from a digital file largely 340 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 1: depends upon the type of file you're using. There are 341 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 1: lots of different file formats, some of which use heavy 342 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:15,640 Speaker 1: compression and uh file types like MP three those are 343 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,719 Speaker 1: lossy formats. So in order to compress file sizes, and 344 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:22,040 Speaker 1: the whole purpose of that is to make the more manageable, right, 345 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: to shrink the file size down so they're easier to 346 00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:30,400 Speaker 1: store and to pull up and and send in order 347 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,600 Speaker 1: to make that happen to compress that information, what the 348 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:38,240 Speaker 1: format does is essentially a ditches digital information that makes 349 00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,879 Speaker 1: up part of that sound. Now, in theory, the compression 350 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:46,120 Speaker 1: algorithms are eliminating frequencies that we would otherwise be unable 351 00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:48,680 Speaker 1: to hear, So, in other words, it's just trying to 352 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: get rid of superfluous information that we would never perceive 353 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,720 Speaker 1: in the first place. The range of human hearing is limited. 354 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,679 Speaker 1: Typically we describe it as being between twenty hurts and 355 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 1: twin d thousand hurts. Those frequencies mark the edges of 356 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 1: human hearing for the for the average person, anything below 357 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:13,400 Speaker 1: twenty hurts or above twenty thou hurts for nearly everyone 358 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,159 Speaker 1: is imperceptible. So one way you can reduce a sound 359 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:21,480 Speaker 1: file size is you look for any data that references 360 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,359 Speaker 1: frequencies that are outside the range of human hearing, and 361 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:26,320 Speaker 1: you say, well, I don't need it because there's no 362 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:28,919 Speaker 1: way to perceive it, so get rid of it. Dump it. 363 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: If there are two or more instruments that are playing 364 00:22:32,359 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: and one is slightly louder than the other, or significantly 365 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: louder than the other, we often can't hear the softer one. Uh, 366 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 1: if there's a really loud sound, we typically cannot hear 367 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:46,600 Speaker 1: the sound immediately following that. It's just a quality of 368 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:50,400 Speaker 1: human hearing. So again, a compression algorithm might say, well, 369 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 1: here's the sound, and it's amplitude as such that the 370 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 1: listeners never going to hear this next sound that is 371 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:01,440 Speaker 1: in the file, So we're gonna dump that too. Right again, 372 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:03,959 Speaker 1: if you can't perceive it, why would you save it? 373 00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: That's the the logic behind us. But this can actually 374 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: change the quality of the sound we hear, even if 375 00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: it isn't in a direct way. So one thing that 376 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 1: could happen is you could have a really you know, 377 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:20,920 Speaker 1: low bit rate for this kind of compression, and then 378 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: you end up creating a a pretty lossy file. Your 379 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,359 Speaker 1: your file is going to be smaller, but the fidelity 380 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: is going to be very low to the point where 381 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: you're gonna be able to hear it. Moreover, compression algorithms 382 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 1: tend to reduce dynamics, so we call dynamics would be 383 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,760 Speaker 1: the description of the difference between the softest and the 384 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 1: loudest sounds in a recording, and uh, compression tends to 385 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 1: squish all that in a bit so that your loudest 386 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,560 Speaker 1: loud sounds and your softest soft sounds are closer together. 387 00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,639 Speaker 1: You have less dynamic range. And because more of us 388 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,360 Speaker 1: listen to digital music and have sort of moved away 389 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:11,600 Speaker 1: from analog sources, music itself has moved away from creating 390 00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 1: songs with really great dynamic range. We see musicians focusing 391 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: on ranges that have less dynamics in them. We're seeing 392 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,640 Speaker 1: music produced with that smaller dynamic range from the very start, 393 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,920 Speaker 1: Why would you craft something with great dynamic complexity if 394 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: no one's ever going to hear it, Because they're listening 395 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,400 Speaker 1: to a compressed digital stream over the internet. So it's 396 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 1: actually changing the way people make and record music, not 397 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:39,760 Speaker 1: just store it and play it back. But then they're 398 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:44,840 Speaker 1: also lossless file formats. These are digital files that preserve 399 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,919 Speaker 1: all the information from a recorded session. Then the quality 400 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:52,119 Speaker 1: of your listening session is dependent upon three main factors. 401 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,080 Speaker 1: The equipment that was used to make the original recording. 402 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:57,680 Speaker 1: That's going to be important. Also, I mean, I guess 403 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: you could argue the actual performance of whatever it was 404 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,679 Speaker 1: that's gonna make a difference, But we're talking about reproducing 405 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:05,719 Speaker 1: that performance. So the equipment used to make the recording 406 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:09,000 Speaker 1: is important, the equipment used to convert that recording into 407 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 1: a digital format is important, and the equipment you're using 408 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:17,080 Speaker 1: to listen to that recording is important. Lossy formats depend 409 00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 1: on those things too, but they also depend upon the 410 00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 1: compression algorithms. That adds yet another factor that can affect 411 00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:26,119 Speaker 1: the sound quality. So what makes a great analog or 412 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: digital source component? Well, again, that comes down to subjective preferences. 413 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:35,200 Speaker 1: So with turntables, there are different drive systems that audio 414 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 1: files argue over endlessly. So is a belt drive better 415 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,639 Speaker 1: than a direct drive, a friction drive where you've got 416 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:47,959 Speaker 1: an element that's pressed up against the platter on the 417 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:51,960 Speaker 1: turntable and when the element turns, it causes the turntable 418 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:53,760 Speaker 1: to turn. Or is it a belt drive where you 419 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:58,639 Speaker 1: have a belt wrapped around the turntable or another piece 420 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:03,000 Speaker 1: that's in contact with the turntable and the belt provides 421 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:07,520 Speaker 1: the rotational motion. There are arguments back and forth over 422 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,199 Speaker 1: which one is superior, and they're they're pros and cons 423 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 1: to both. But I covered all of that in the 424 00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:15,159 Speaker 1: Turntable History episodes I did a while back. So the 425 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:18,159 Speaker 1: answer really comes down to it depends on the turntable, 426 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:22,600 Speaker 1: And another factor that impacts audio quality is the cartridge 427 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,760 Speaker 1: on the turntable. The cartridge is the part of the 428 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:29,879 Speaker 1: the turntable, the record player if you will, that holds 429 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:33,160 Speaker 1: the stylus or needle of a turntable. It also holds 430 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:39,000 Speaker 1: the the mechanics inside that convert the vibrations of the 431 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:43,879 Speaker 1: needle into an electric signal. So the four basic types 432 00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: of cartridges are moving magnet, moving iron, moving coil, and 433 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:52,600 Speaker 1: then ceramic cartridges. But all of them are responsible for 434 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,000 Speaker 1: taking those physical vibrations and converting them into an electric 435 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 1: signal that then gets passed on to the other components. 436 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 1: From what I've researched, the moving coil cartridges seem to 437 00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:07,160 Speaker 1: be the darlings of audio files. Now this is outside 438 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,520 Speaker 1: of my area of expertise, but it was based upon 439 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,120 Speaker 1: the research I was doing. The styluss in an uh 440 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:17,040 Speaker 1: in A moving coil cartridge causes a cantilever to move 441 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 1: a pair of coils back and forth over a stationary 442 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:25,520 Speaker 1: magnetic core. And the coils are conductive wire, right, so 443 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:28,840 Speaker 1: we know what that means. You move a conductive wire 444 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 1: by a permanent magnet or vice versa, you move a 445 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:36,119 Speaker 1: permanent magnet by conductive coils, it induces current to flow 446 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: or really and it induces a difference in voltage within 447 00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:45,679 Speaker 1: those coils. And there's a pair of coils because you 448 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,440 Speaker 1: want to be able to create stereo, right, so one 449 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,200 Speaker 1: coil for each channel in a sound system with CD 450 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 1: players or transports audio files will look to systems that 451 00:27:55,960 --> 00:28:01,120 Speaker 1: minimize vibration, that operate quietly, and that use few errors 452 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:04,200 Speaker 1: while reading disks, and of course they look to digital 453 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:08,160 Speaker 1: audio converter systems that can convert digital signals to analog 454 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:12,119 Speaker 1: audio signals with as much accuracy as possible. And the 455 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 1: quality of sound you get will also depend upon the 456 00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:18,560 Speaker 1: physical media you're playing. If you're putting in a CD 457 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:21,360 Speaker 1: that's got a bunch of scratches on it, or you've 458 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 1: got a worn down vinyl record that you put on 459 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 1: a turntable, you're probably not going to get the ideal 460 00:28:27,119 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 1: listening experience. Some systems have some error correction that can 461 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:34,320 Speaker 1: fix some things, that can jump over some of the 462 00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:37,040 Speaker 1: scratches let's say on a on a CD, for example, 463 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 1: but not everything does. And ultimately you're gonna want that 464 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 1: physical media to be in as good shape as possible. 465 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: You also want to make sure that your equipment isn't 466 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: producing unreasonable wear and tear on that media. Next we're 467 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,280 Speaker 1: gonna look at the interconnects or cables, and then we'll 468 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:59,360 Speaker 1: talk about amplifiers, pre amplifiers and receivers as well as speakers. 469 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:12,240 Speaker 1: But first let's take another quick break to thank our sponsor. Alright, cables. 470 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: Time to talk about cables. So cables are important. You 471 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 1: want good shielded cables. A shielded cable protects the electric 472 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:25,280 Speaker 1: signal from that's being carried by the cable from interference 473 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 1: from electromagnetic interference. If you've ever had a poorly shielded 474 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:33,560 Speaker 1: cable like a headphone cable, you've probably heard interference like that. 475 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:35,600 Speaker 1: I remember I used to have a pair of really 476 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:40,200 Speaker 1: cheap speakers for a desktop computer, and whenever my phone 477 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,320 Speaker 1: would go off, if it was anywhere close to those cables, 478 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: you would start getting this digital stuttering noises. Didate did 479 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: it because the phone, when it was receiving a call, 480 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 1: would generate this electromagnetic interference. So we get picked up 481 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:57,959 Speaker 1: by the cables and then sent on to the speaker 482 00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:02,160 Speaker 1: as if it was a legitimate sound that my computer 483 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:04,200 Speaker 1: was trying to play. So you don't want that. You 484 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: want good shielding around your your cables, and you want 485 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:12,000 Speaker 1: the cables to have really good solid connectors as well. Right, 486 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: you want the part that you're plugging into the component 487 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:17,600 Speaker 1: to have a good connection with the rest of the cable, 488 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:20,360 Speaker 1: because if if it's a weak connection, then you're gonna 489 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:25,520 Speaker 1: get intermittent broadcast quality, like you're gonna get intermittent playability. 490 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:30,440 Speaker 1: So those are important. But when you when you get 491 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:34,200 Speaker 1: down to it, after that, the nature of cables starts 492 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: to become another really contentious one. There are cables out 493 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:41,880 Speaker 1: there that are marketed as being superior to all others, 494 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,080 Speaker 1: largely because of the materials that are being used in 495 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:48,480 Speaker 1: the actual cable, like gold plated connectors, that kind of thing. 496 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 1: But tests can tend to be inconclusive on this matter. 497 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,880 Speaker 1: A well constructed cable, one that loses less of a 498 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 1: signal due to resistance, tends to perform are in tests, 499 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:04,960 Speaker 1: which seems reasonable. Cables that are less well constructed tend 500 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,239 Speaker 1: to perform lower, again not a big surprise, but the 501 00:31:08,240 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 1: differences are again largely subjective, and the prices for high 502 00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:17,600 Speaker 1: end cables can get truly astronomical, like thousands of dollars 503 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:21,040 Speaker 1: for a cable that's a meter in length, especially if 504 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:23,320 Speaker 1: you start looking for cables that are longer. Let's say 505 00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: that you want to create a sound system where you're 506 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:29,520 Speaker 1: hooking up speakers throughout a large space. It can get 507 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 1: prohibitively expensive, very very quickly, because those cables get super 508 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 1: super expensive, thousands of dollars for a cable. And also, 509 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: there are analog and there are digital audio cables, but 510 00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:44,000 Speaker 1: for your good audio system, like a Hi Fi audio system, 511 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:47,360 Speaker 1: you pretty much just need analog cables. Digital audio cables 512 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:51,600 Speaker 1: are mostly designed for theater systems to provide multiple channels 513 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,360 Speaker 1: so that you can get stuff like surround sound. But 514 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:58,720 Speaker 1: your typical audio recordings are more in the stereo world, 515 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: not surround sound world, So you just need a cable 516 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:07,000 Speaker 1: that's going to provide really good stereo channels. Also, you 517 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: may have heard about directional audio cables. Now, these are 518 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 1: as the name suggests, cables that indicate which end should 519 00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:19,800 Speaker 1: plug into a specific component, with the idea of the 520 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:24,520 Speaker 1: signal can travel better down one direction of the cable 521 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 1: versus the opposite direction of the cable. So you might 522 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,400 Speaker 1: have a directional cable that says this end needs to 523 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:33,960 Speaker 1: plug into your source audio, and this other end needs 524 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: to plug into your pre amplifier or amplifier. Now, based 525 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:42,479 Speaker 1: on my research, that claim largely seems unsupported. So in 526 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,520 Speaker 1: other words, it might be true, but I've seen no 527 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 1: evidence to actually support that claim, and so I see 528 00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 1: no reason why anyone should seek out directional cables. The 529 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,840 Speaker 1: only time it matters is if the components you're connecting 530 00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 1: have proprietary fittings, like a proprietary port, which requires cables 531 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:03,960 Speaker 1: to be plugged in a specific way because there's no 532 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,840 Speaker 1: other way to do it. But typically you don't want 533 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:10,680 Speaker 1: to avoid that because one of the beauty, beautiful things 534 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,440 Speaker 1: I should say about having one of these audio systems 535 00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,560 Speaker 1: is that modular approach where you can swap out components. 536 00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:19,280 Speaker 1: But you can't really do that if you're using proprietary 537 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,400 Speaker 1: connectors like you, you'd have to stay within that same 538 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:27,160 Speaker 1: family of products because otherwise the cable you have would 539 00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:29,800 Speaker 1: not plug into the component you're using. So you want 540 00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:34,240 Speaker 1: to typically use components that have universal connectors, and most do. 541 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:36,840 Speaker 1: Now that we've got cables all the way, let's take 542 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: a look at what I think of as the heart 543 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:40,440 Speaker 1: of a sound system. This would be the collection of 544 00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,640 Speaker 1: components that can include a receiver, a tuner, amplifier, and 545 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:47,959 Speaker 1: a pre amplifier. Now I said can include because there 546 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:50,160 Speaker 1: are a lot of variations here. Not all systems are 547 00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:52,800 Speaker 1: going to have all of these different components. So a 548 00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:56,040 Speaker 1: tuner is a radio. The tuner is what allows you 549 00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:59,280 Speaker 1: to tune into a specific radio frequency to pick up 550 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:02,200 Speaker 1: a different station. And the antenna of a radio will 551 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:06,760 Speaker 1: receive tons of different sign waves representing different radio signals. 552 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:09,239 Speaker 1: So the tuner tells the radio which of those sign 553 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:13,040 Speaker 1: waves to pay attention to and which wants to ignore, 554 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:16,719 Speaker 1: essentially ignore all the rest. Tuners use resonance to do this. 555 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:19,480 Speaker 1: The radio has a resonator that can be set for 556 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:23,080 Speaker 1: specific frequencies. That's by tuning the dial and at that 557 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:28,240 Speaker 1: specific frequency, the resonator resonates and amplifies that incoming signal, 558 00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:30,799 Speaker 1: which is then processed and amplified further to go to 559 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:32,480 Speaker 1: the speakers and then you can listen to the radio. 560 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:34,919 Speaker 1: I've done episodes our radio work, so I'm not gonna 561 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:38,919 Speaker 1: go into further detail here. Pre amplifiers and amplifiers take 562 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:41,960 Speaker 1: that incoming signal and then strengthen it to send out 563 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:45,319 Speaker 1: to speakers. A pre amplifier takes an incoming signal and 564 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,360 Speaker 1: boost it up to what you would call line signal 565 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:52,880 Speaker 1: strength and send that on to an amplifier for further amplification. 566 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:57,640 Speaker 1: So are pre amplifiers necessary? Could you just plug source 567 00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:02,279 Speaker 1: components like CD players or turntable into an amplifier. Well, 568 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:06,760 Speaker 1: this is a contentious issue. Some pre amplifiers serve as switches, 569 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:10,680 Speaker 1: so you can plug in numerous components into the pre amplifier, 570 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:13,960 Speaker 1: which then connects to an amplifier to send a signal 571 00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:16,160 Speaker 1: out to the speakers. And if you've got lots of 572 00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:19,720 Speaker 1: different source components, that could be important. So you connect 573 00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:22,319 Speaker 1: all the source components to the pre amplifier, use the 574 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:25,520 Speaker 1: pre amplifier to switch to the proper source component that 575 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:27,640 Speaker 1: you want to listen to. Let's say that you have 576 00:35:27,800 --> 00:35:30,120 Speaker 1: just finished listening to a record and now you want 577 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:32,400 Speaker 1: to listen to a CD, so use the pre amplifier 578 00:35:32,440 --> 00:35:35,520 Speaker 1: to switch from the vinyl turntable input to the c 579 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:39,440 Speaker 1: D input. Then you might need a pre amplifier, but 580 00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,279 Speaker 1: some people argue again that the more components you put 581 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 1: between the source and the speakers, the more opportunities you 582 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,640 Speaker 1: have to degrade the signals, so there's some truth to 583 00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:50,080 Speaker 1: that as well. It could be that an extra step 584 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:54,560 Speaker 1: in the chain from turntable to speaker could introduce some errors. Receivers, 585 00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:57,120 Speaker 1: by the way, are essentially amplifiers that also have the 586 00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:01,200 Speaker 1: radio tuner incorporated in them. So you've got these various components. 587 00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:04,360 Speaker 1: They're all meant to take that incoming signal, amplify it, 588 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:06,760 Speaker 1: and incented out to the speakers. And to make matters 589 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:10,799 Speaker 1: more complicated, there are different types of amplifiers. Their transistor 590 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:15,000 Speaker 1: based amplifiers which rely upon electronic components to amplify the signal. 591 00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:18,640 Speaker 1: There are tube based amplifiers. They use good old fashioned 592 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,840 Speaker 1: vacuum tubes to amplify the signal. There are hybrid systems 593 00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:25,040 Speaker 1: that use elements of both. Now, I've talked about amplification 594 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: and other episodes too, so again I'm not gonna go 595 00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:30,120 Speaker 1: over it there. I'm already running long, so I don't 596 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:33,839 Speaker 1: have time to go into the science and technology behind amplification. 597 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,719 Speaker 1: But I have covered that in previous episodes, and there 598 00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:39,120 Speaker 1: are audio files who will swear up and down that 599 00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:42,799 Speaker 1: a tube system is superior to a transistor system. But 600 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,719 Speaker 1: I've also read about a lot of tests that are 601 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:49,840 Speaker 1: more inconclusive on that if the person listening has no idea, 602 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:53,360 Speaker 1: if he or she is hearing an audio recording produced 603 00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:58,239 Speaker 1: with a a system using either tubes or transistors, and 604 00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:01,440 Speaker 1: they're unable to tell the difference, then there's really no 605 00:37:02,239 --> 00:37:06,080 Speaker 1: benefit from one versus the other. Um that's not saying 606 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:08,279 Speaker 1: that there's no difference at all. Again, some people might 607 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:11,879 Speaker 1: be able to perceive a difference, the others legitimately might not. 608 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:16,239 Speaker 1: It's all very subjective, so this does not also mean 609 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:21,040 Speaker 1: that all preampts, amplifiers, and receivers are equal. Some legitimately 610 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:24,000 Speaker 1: do a better job than others. Some may introduce errors 611 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,680 Speaker 1: in a signal which the speakers will then produce, and 612 00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:31,640 Speaker 1: you will hear a reproduction of a recording that is 613 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:34,279 Speaker 1: not as accurate as you might like. But I've seen 614 00:37:34,320 --> 00:37:36,680 Speaker 1: a lot of tests that suggests that while there are differences, 615 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:41,080 Speaker 1: the brand and the cost are not necessarily indicators of quality. 616 00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:44,240 Speaker 1: So in some cases, mid budget or even lower budget 617 00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:48,759 Speaker 1: components received performance scores that rivaled or even outpaced more 618 00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:52,000 Speaker 1: expensive equipment. So don't let a price tag fool you 619 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:55,560 Speaker 1: into thinking that because something costs more, it's automatically better. 620 00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:58,239 Speaker 1: It might be better, but you won't know unless you 621 00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:00,400 Speaker 1: go through to that demo room and us into a 622 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:04,560 Speaker 1: whole different audio set up configurations, and you're reasonably sure 623 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:07,440 Speaker 1: that no one's messing with any settings so that they 624 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:10,560 Speaker 1: guide you to the more expensive equipment. And even then, 625 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:14,720 Speaker 1: your perception can be influenced just by knowing which brand 626 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:17,880 Speaker 1: is in play or the sticker price of a particular component, 627 00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:20,600 Speaker 1: Because perception is a funny thing. If you're told ahead 628 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:23,800 Speaker 1: of time this system you're about to hear is top 629 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,640 Speaker 1: of the line, you might perceive the music as being 630 00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:29,759 Speaker 1: of a better quality than any of the other variations, 631 00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:33,400 Speaker 1: even if there's no real discernible difference. It's just that 632 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:37,880 Speaker 1: you've added that mental expectation, and because of that, you 633 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:41,400 Speaker 1: do perceive it that way. So avoiding bias is really tricky, 634 00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:43,480 Speaker 1: but also important if you want to, you know, not 635 00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:46,640 Speaker 1: break the bank. The last piece of the audio system 636 00:38:46,719 --> 00:38:48,960 Speaker 1: would be the speakers. So good speakers should be able 637 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,319 Speaker 1: to reproduce sounds across the range of human hearing. But 638 00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:55,359 Speaker 1: that's pretty hard to do, particularly when you start getting 639 00:38:55,360 --> 00:39:01,520 Speaker 1: into the very low frequencies. Reproducing base UH in an 640 00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:04,200 Speaker 1: accurate way is tough. It's not hard to make big 641 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:06,640 Speaker 1: booming noises, it's just tough to do it in a 642 00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:10,319 Speaker 1: way that is really accurate of the original sound. It 643 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:13,319 Speaker 1: requires really large speakers with big drivers that require a 644 00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:15,799 Speaker 1: lot of power to move. Often you'll need something like 645 00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:18,759 Speaker 1: a subwiffer that will have its own power source to 646 00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:22,760 Speaker 1: help augment that incoming signal even more because the speaker 647 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:25,439 Speaker 1: it has to move is so heavy. Um, the driver 648 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:28,879 Speaker 1: inside is so heavy, so you need a lot more power. Uh. 649 00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:30,719 Speaker 1: There are tons of different speakers out there in a 650 00:39:30,800 --> 00:39:32,840 Speaker 1: huge array of price points, and just like all the 651 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:36,560 Speaker 1: other components, higher prices not necessarily mean a better experience. 652 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:39,120 Speaker 1: Now I realize I've been hammering that home quite a bit, 653 00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:41,359 Speaker 1: but it's the most important piece of information I think 654 00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:43,120 Speaker 1: you can have when you're decided to build out an 655 00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:46,400 Speaker 1: audio system. Audio files can sometimes fall into a trap 656 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:49,799 Speaker 1: where they believe they get a superior experience because the 657 00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:53,880 Speaker 1: pieces they're investing in are expensive or have more features 658 00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:57,080 Speaker 1: than others, or sometimes they have fewer features than others, 659 00:39:57,160 --> 00:40:00,239 Speaker 1: because some people say the more features you introduce, the 660 00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:04,440 Speaker 1: more chances you have of introducing errors and signals. But 661 00:40:04,520 --> 00:40:08,680 Speaker 1: if you visit any website that hosts discussions between audio files, 662 00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:12,960 Speaker 1: you'll find a lot of dissent on pretty much every 663 00:40:13,160 --> 00:40:16,839 Speaker 1: component within an audio system. So to me, that really 664 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:19,200 Speaker 1: brings it all home. You have to find the components 665 00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:22,680 Speaker 1: that work correctly for the sound you want to experience. 666 00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:26,120 Speaker 1: That's what is important. So that means actually going out 667 00:40:26,239 --> 00:40:29,640 Speaker 1: and trying different demonstrations and finding the mix that works 668 00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:33,560 Speaker 1: for you. And that's a lot of work, but if 669 00:40:33,560 --> 00:40:37,359 Speaker 1: that's what's important to you, it's worth doing. And just 670 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:40,279 Speaker 1: remember that a system made up of components, while it 671 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:43,399 Speaker 1: is modular and you can upgrade a single piece, it's 672 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:47,120 Speaker 1: never going to sound better than the lowest performing part 673 00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:52,760 Speaker 1: of that system. All right. That wraps up this exhaustive 674 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:56,959 Speaker 1: overview of audio systems, And obviously I could do full 675 00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:59,960 Speaker 1: episodes about each of those different components and talking great 676 00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:01,680 Speaker 1: or detail what they do and how they do it. 677 00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:04,960 Speaker 1: In fact, I have done that with turntables, so maybe 678 00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:06,880 Speaker 1: I'll do that with the other pieces in the future. 679 00:41:07,239 --> 00:41:10,279 Speaker 1: Thank you Carl Ludvig for your suggestion. If any of 680 00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:13,000 Speaker 1: you have other suggestions for future episodes of tech Stuff, 681 00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:16,160 Speaker 1: write me an email the addresses tech Stuff at how 682 00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:18,600 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com or drop me a line on 683 00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:20,480 Speaker 1: Facebook or Twitter. The handle of both of those is 684 00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:22,920 Speaker 1: tech Stuff h s W. If you want to get 685 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:26,239 Speaker 1: yourself a text stuff T shirt or coffee mug or 686 00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 1: phone case, head on over to t public dot com 687 00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:33,800 Speaker 1: slash tech stuff. That's t e public dot com slash 688 00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:36,280 Speaker 1: tech stuff and you can pick up some cool stuff 689 00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:39,400 Speaker 1: for yourself, for for loved ones. And every purchase you 690 00:41:39,440 --> 00:41:42,880 Speaker 1: make it gives us a little benefits, so it helps 691 00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:46,000 Speaker 1: support the show and we greatly appreciate it. And don't 692 00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:49,080 Speaker 1: forget to follow us on Instagram. That's all for me. 693 00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:58,160 Speaker 1: I'll talk to you again really soon. For more on 694 00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:01,000 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics, visit house stuff works 695 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:11,279 Speaker 1: dot com.